Local dog walkers keep paws moving and spirits high.

For those familiar with Martha’s Vineyard, the rich variety of options for outdoor recreation is truly inspiring. With over 75 hiking trails, scores of open fields, and stretches along the water, the island boasts over 200 miles of trails and more than 100 preserved properties. For Cay Piasecka and Heather Mangione, co-owners of Al Fresco Tails, the natural beauty of the Vineyard’s landscape and their love of dogs served as the perfect intersection for a business that indulges both passions. 

The couple were finally able to become island residents when Piasecka landed a job at the Vineyard Haven Library and Mangione initially worked at the Boys & Girls Club. For several years Piasecka had an established pet care service, and as Mangione reveals, “Unlike many people who offer dog walking etc., she had insurance and other business infrastructure, so I saw that you could actually make a viable business out of it.”

Within a month or two of getting settled, they posted a single notice on a community chat board offering overnight pet care and daytime recreation for dogs. “It was total wildfire,” Mangione recalls. “Particularly in the off-season, when so many residents finally take time to travel off-island.” Mangione says what had been a dream for so many years, was now becoming a reality. “I was able to leave my job first,” she says. “And we had always had this fairy tale image of living a simple and idyllic life on an island and, the reality is that we are now in the thick of the hustle.”